Lampholder support and connecting bracket



May 2, 1961 R. W; LISTER ETAL.

LAMPHOLDER SUPPORT AND CONNECTING BRACKET Filed July 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR$ Robert m Lister Walter W Stubbs Mull-$- Mk; m

7145/ ATTORNEYS y 2, 1961 R. w. LISTER ET AL 2,982,850

LAMPHOLDER SUPPORT AND CONNECTING BRACKET Filed July 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. Robert M. Lis Ier Walter W SI/l/DDS BY M 9 w uah. F I 7 THE/R ATTORNEYS 'tories, Inc.

LAMPHOLDER SUPPORT AND CONNECTING BRACKET Robert W. Lister, Greensburg, and Walter W. Stubbs,

Irwin, -Pa., assignors to Pittsburgh Reflector Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 5, 1956, Ser. No. 595,890

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-5111) box made of sheet metal with one side open. This open The box side is closed by a reflector plate when in use. extends the full length of the fixture and provides a housing or wireway for wiring and also carries auxiliary equipment, such as starters, transformers, etc.

In the past, lampholders for fluorescent tubes have been fastened to support brackets which were rigidly secured to the end of the wireways. The lampholders extended a suflicient distance from the open side of the box to support the fluorescent tubes and maintain a clearance between the tubes and the reflector. Such structures presented a serious shipping problem because the lampholder, generally being made of plastic and projecting beyond the side of the box, was frequently broken during shipment. This problem is alleviated by the present invention by pivotally mounting the lampholders and lampholder bracket to move them inside the wireway during shipment.

However, this pivotal mounting to prevent breakage during shipment presented another problem as to the manner in which the end closure plate for the box could be affixed to completely enclose the wireway in conformity with the requirements of the Underwriters Labora- The methods used in the past for providing this closure plate were to make it integral with the box or aflix it to brackets on the box. However, these methods do not readily adapt themselves toforming strip lighting by stringing one fixture after the other and interconnecting each of them. Connecting plates have been provided in the past to span the opening between the strip lighting fixtures. These connecting plates have not proven adequate in that special fabricating and handling expenses were involved and the cost of installation was increased.

We have invented a support bracket for lampholders which not only provides a means for connecting the end closure plates in a simple, effective manner, but also provides means for interconnecting a string of fixtures in alignment for strip lighting without the use of connecting plates. The present invention provides the advantages that the wireways are grounded to each other; that the adjacent wireways are open to each other at their ends and no protective bushing or connecting plate is necessary; and that the brackets can be used to secure end plates to form an enclosed structure of the wireway.

Another advantage of our invention is that the lampholder brackets have universal application in that they can be used at the end of the wireways or at any intermediate position. If the brackets are used at an intermediate posiilitfid t tes atent ice 2, tion in the wireway they can be folded out of the way to provide access to a central knockout plate for proper wiring.

In the accompanying drawings, we have illustrated a presently preferred embodiment of my invention as applied to a strip lighting fixture, in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of our support bracket with one of two lampholders secured to it;

Figure 2 is an isometric view of our support bracket positioned in a wireway with one of two'lampholders carried by the bracket removed for purposes of illustration;

Figure 3 is an isometric view of our support bracket positioned in a wireway with the closure plate attached;

. Figure 4 is an isometric view of our support bracket positioned in a wireway with the closure plate removed;

Figure 5 is an isometric view of our support bracket positioned in a wireway with the bracket and lampholders folded to shipping position;

Fig. 6 shows the use of our bracket intermediate the end of the wireway; and

Figure 7 shows the use of our bracket for interconnecting two adjacent wireways.

The strip lighting fixture consists of a long rectangular box made of stamped sheet metal. It has a top 8 (or bottom, depending on how the fixture is installed) and sides 9 and 10 which form a U-shaped channel. A groove 11 runs the length of the sides 9 and 10 to stiffen the sides. The open side of the U-shaped channel is closed by a reflector plate 12 which is held in position in the manner hereinafter described.

Our support bracket consists of a plate bent in a U shape having legs 13 and '14 and a top plate 15 which joins the legs. The legs 13 and 14 have threaded openings 25a whereby the bracket may be pivotally secured to the sides 9 and 10 of the U-shaped box.

The plate 15 of the bracket carries lampholders 16 for a fluorescent lamp, the lampholders fitting in recesses 17 in the plate 15 and secured by bolts or screws (not shown) passing through openings 18 and into a threaded opening in the lampholders. 7

Tabs or tongues 19 and 20 depend from the rear side of the legs 13 and 14 and are integral therewith. Tongue 19 has two threaded openings 21 and 22 and tongue 20 has a threaded opening 23 and a slot 24 to be used for a purpose described hereinafter.

Figure 2 shows our bracket in position to hold lamps in the lighting fixture, the bracket being pivotally fastened to the sides 9 and It by metal screws 25. Figure 5 shows the bracket and lampholders pivoted to the withdrawn or inward position with the lampholders within the wireway to protect them during shipping. After the brackets have been pivoted 011 the screws 25 to the position shown in Figure 2, the reflectorplate 12 is placed on top of the channel formed by the top or bottom 8 and the sides 9 and 10 of the box, with flanges 26 of the reflector plate extending outside of the sides 9 and 10. The reflector plate has slots 27 in its ends so that it fits around the lampholder 16. After the reflector plate has been placed in position on the top of the metal box, it is secured to the plate 15 of the bracket at each end of the fixture by metal screws 28 which thread into an opening 29 in the plate 15.

When a fixture is packed for shipment, reflector plate 12 is removed from the fixture and the brackets are pivoted on screws 25 to the position shown in the chain line of Figure 5.

When the fixture is to be installed, the brackets are pivoted to the position shown in Figure 4 either before or after the wireway is installed in the conventional manner by use of hangers, screws, etc. The reflector plate 12 is then installed by means of screws 28. If the fixtures are being installed in single units, it is necessary that a closure plate30be affixed to theend of the wireway to enclose it. The plate 30 is, an L-shaped member with a small leg 31 extending perpendicular to the main plate 30. A knockout plug 32 is cut in the plate 30 to provide for the possibility of extending wires through the plate. Two slots 33 are also cut in the closure plate. Metal screws 34 are inserted through the slots 33 and threaded into the holes 21 and 23 on the tongues 19 and 20, respectively. The closure plate 30 completely closes an end of the box and makes a neat appearance as well as fulfills the requirements of the Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. that wireways and housings containing wiring be completely enclosed. 1

Our brackets can also be used at any intermediate point along the wireway in the manner shown in Figure 6. The brackets are pivoted by means of screws 25 in the same manner as above described. However, one of the distinct advantages of the pivotal brackets in this situation is that, if a knockout plate 35 is located directly below the position desired for the lampholders, the lampholders may be pivoted inwardly to the position shown in the solid lines in Figure 6 to give ready access to the knockout plate 35 and the stringing of the wires therethrough. After the necessary wiring has been completed, the brackets and lampholders can be pivoted to the position shown in the chain lines of Figure 6.

Another advantage of the present invention is illustrated in Figure 7. If it is desired to form a continuous strip line of lighting fixtures, one of the fixtures, such as 36, may be rigidly installed on a ceiling in the manner described above. A second fixture, such as 37, with the lampholders swung to the outward position, may be connected to the unit 36 by positioning a screw 38, which is rigidly held in threaded hole 22 in tongue 19 on fixture 36, into slot 24 in tongue on the fixture 37 and simultaneously inserting a screw 39, which is rigidly held in threaded hole 22 in tongue 19 of the fixture 37, into slot 24 in tongue 20 on the fixture 36. It is also possible to loosely connect the fixture 36 to the ceiling such that it and fixture 37 may be slightly rotated to assist in connecting the strip lighting fixtures together in the manner stated above.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that we have invented a lampholder support bracket which permits fluorescent fixtures to be installed in much shorter periods of time than has been possible with supports here tofore known. The tongues 19 and 20 serve a dual purpose in being usable either to connect the closure plate 30 to the fixture or to connect two adjacent lighting fixtures together in a strip relationship. It is not necessary with the present invention to use connecting plates between adjacent fixtures when forming a strip lighting, thus reducing material and installation costs.

While we have described a present preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A fluorescent light fixture having a U-shaped channel member, said member having two opposed sides and a lampholder support bracket mounted between said sides, said bracket comprising a generally U-shaped member having a top plate of sufl-lcient length to extend irom one side to the other of said fixture and legs extending there from at each of its ends and lying against the sides of the fixture, at least one recess extending inwardly from one edge of the top plate receiving a lampholder, tabs extending inwardly from the edges of the legs which are in the same plane as the edge of the top plate having the recess and said tabs forming a right angle with the legs whereby they lie substantially in the same plane as the edge of the top plate having the recess for the lampholder, means on the legs pivotally mounting the bracket between the sides of the fixture, said means being so positioned on the legs that the bracket when moved to a first position extends beyond the sides of the channel in position to receive a fluorescent lamp, the outer surfaces of said tabs and of a lampholder which is secured in said recess lying substantially flush with the end of the channel, and so that the bracket when moved to a second position lies within the space bounded by the sides of the channel, said tabs having openings for receiving bolts whereby an adjacent support bracket or an end plate may be secured to the tabs.

2. A lampholder support bracket as described in claim 1, in which the openings in said tabs comprise two threaded screw holes in one tab and in the other tab one threaded screw hole and one slot extending inwardly from one edge of the tab.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,316,404 Carter Apr. 13, 1943 2,408,783 Kloner Oct. 8, 1946 2,456,903 Versen Dec. 21, 1948 2,767,307 McGinty et a1 Oct. 16, 1956 2,831,962 -Winkler et a1. Apr. 22, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 607,051 Great Britain Aug. 25, 1948 OTHER REFERENCES Publications of Westinghouse Electric Corp: (1) Type EBC Luminaire Hood, May 1953. (1 p. Copy in Div. 62.) (2) Specification Data on 2 EEC-40 Fluorescent Luminaire. (Index: Industrial Lighting 61-142) August 1950 (2 pp. Copy in Div. 62.)

CrownliteCrownlite Is First Again, article in Lighting, February 1955. (p. 39. Copy in Div. 62.)

Publication l.L.61250-1B of Westinghouse Electric Corp.: Installation, Maintenance Instructions Bare Lamp Luminaires, Commercial Fluorescent and Rapid Start Types BB-76, BB-80, BB8OR, BB-116, BB-lSO. November 1954. (2 pp. Copy in Div. 62.) 

